Chicken Pot Pie from Lessons in Chemistry

In this post, we come to the final pie made on Lessons in Chemistry, using the A-PIE-ogenesis crust: Chicken Pot Pie.

It appears toward the end of episode 4, when Elizabeth Zott is on a tear after discovering one of her daughter’s classmates has been stealing her lunches. Confronting her father, Walter Pine, a producer at the local TV station, she brings him her recipe for chicken pot pie and a sample. Walter tries the pie, and it’s what gets her the job as the host of Supper at Six, even if she isn’t interested at first.

Good food is a primary catalyst from which my daughter will grow. Good food is not a hobby. It... It is community, it is family, and it is essential. Out of concern for your daughter, I brought my chicken pot pie recipe, along with a sample so that you can taste the crumble of the crust and the viscosity of the filling.

-Elizabeth Zott

What’s great is that this recipe includes instructions for how to make the pie with no bottom crust, or in individual form in ramekins. In fact, for the digital series Cast Chemistry in the Kitchen, Courtney McBroom made the pies in ramekins with Kevin Sussman (who plays Pine) and Stephanie Koenig (who plays Zott’s colleague Fran Frask). I chose to do it with a top and bottom crust, as in the show. The dough would be simpler that way, and I don’t have ramekins big enough for individual portions.

The filling has a golden color from the unique addition of turmeric, and is flavored with Italian parsley and thyme. When looking back at the episode in writing this post, I read the written recipe (the ingredients, at least) that Zott gives to Walter Pine and it mentions adding 3-4 diced potatoes. The recipe on the official site doesn’t include potatoes. Personally, I think they’re unnecessary when you already have a butter-rich crust.

Unlike most chicken pot pie recipes, this one only has three vegetables: onions, carrots and celery, what’s known as the mirepoix. Otherwise, it’s chicken-heavy. Even better: you can buy pre-cooked chicken to make the recipe easier, and the filling is entirely make ahead. As a matter of fact, you have to chill it in the fridge before baking the pie.

As you can see, when I did it the filling overflowed. Where did I go wrong? Well, I added too much liquid. I didn’t have quite enough chicken stock and so I was going to top it up with water, then add chicken stock concentrate/chicken soup base. I had a little bottle of what I thought was a paste you mix with water, but it was liquid too. The idea with this particular concentrate (from Campbell’s) is you mix the whole bottle with three cups of water to make 3 cups of diluted stock. So, I should have used the concentrate on its own, for a more pronounced chicken flavor.

The crust was a little soft too, because I still wanted to be able to form it by hand. Again, this is my own error, not an issue with the recipe. I really enjoyed the pie in spite of these shortcomings. If I make it again, I’ll either redeem my mistakes, or make it easier on myself by cooking it with no bottom crust. My mother, who ate this with me, said she would have preferred it that way, and with more vegetables. Perhaps some peas and corn could be a nice addition, or spinach.

If you want to make this recipe yourself, you can get it on the official website here. You can also watch Stephanie Koenig (Fran Frask) and Kevin Sussman (Walter Pine) make the pie with Courtney McBroom here.

Images from Lessons in Chemistry are the property of Apple TV+. All other photographs are the property of Ate Bit Culinarian.